Marriage of Convenience
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: it was supposed to be just a marriage of convenience. Something he did for the sake of their disciple- to gain military and political ties to help them protect kenichi and his friends from Yami's poisonous grasp. so when did it become something more than it already was? Akisame/OC Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back with an rather interesting story idea that I just can't put to bed. **

**So I thought I'd write it out instead. **

**Will be an Akisame/OC- so...lets have fun!**

**Remember to R&R everyone!**

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It was just several months after the defeat of Ragnarok, the gang that had been out for their desciple's blood from the beginning- when another- and_ greater_ threat made itself known to them. And it's target was their beloved little Kenichi's life... or something like that.

Said threat was a secret organization known throughout the world as Yami. An infamous shadow crime syndicate. And even with the masters of Ryozanpaku being as well trained and battle honed as they were; they were all feeling pretty damn helpless right now as each of them with the exception of Akisame and Kensei Ma, the resident doctors living in the dojo with everyone else gathered outside of a room at the main house.

They were both presently patching up Kenichi after Yami's latest attempt on the boy's life which he had barely escaped alive with only a few bone fractures and some serious bruising thanks to the help of several of his school friends, Takeda, Ukita, and last but not least Miu. Ryozanpaku's elder's only granddaughter.

All of the kids had been banged up pretty badly from the fight, which was good and all.

But the masters all still felt pretty goddamn useless in this.

Resolving a long time ago to never step into their desciple's fights so that the boy could learn to defend himself. But what had happened today...it went beyond the scope of any mere school yard scuffle that the teen had been part of before. And now they were questioning whether or not they should not only keep closer tabs on the boy and his family (like the runt sister that visited to play with Apachai and Shigure) or if they should do something else to insure that the boy continued to...well, _breathe_.

Sighing impatiently, Sakaki, the karate instructor shifted around anxiously in his spot against the wall and glowered at the door of the room that was their student's as if silently trying to will it to open so that they would finally find out if the boy would be okay or not. Though Sakaki didn't say it, he was perhaps one of the most worried people- But then that came from having watched the teen train and die on them more than a few times.

"Calm...down Sakaki...Kenichi...will be fine." Shigure, the weapon's master of the dojo said as she toyed with the katana in her hand and stared at the door ahead of her with her usually expressionless, well...expression, and almost jumped out of her skin when the door suddenly opened and Kensei stepped out with a bowl of bloody water and bandages and quickly closed the door behind him.

His expression dark as he cast them a quick look and motioned for them all to move away from the door. They didn't need to know just yet that Akisame had had to preform surgery on Kenichi's stomach due to severe internal bleeding. Thankfully it hadn't been something that required a trip to the hospital or something that may have caused the boy's family to be contacted. Akisame had been able to open him up, preform the surgery and hen close him up in just a matter of minutes.

Now all that was needed was medicine, rest, and a few other small details to be taken care of and then everything would be fine. Kenichi wouldn't be training for a few weeks but they would make up for lost time once he was on his feet again. "Kensei?" Sakaki's tone was soft, tentative. Hesitant. Almost as if he were afraid of asking about Kenichi's condition.

"He's alive. He'll be down for a few weeks, but he'll be fine," Kensei said, and though he had been telling himself this over and over ever since Kenichi had been carried back to the dojo by his friends- It didn't stop the rage he felt bubbling up in his chest. "Akisame wanted me to tell you that all of us are to gather in the main room with the elder to come up with a plan to prevent this from happening again."

"Right," Sakai said as he thought, _Easier said than done._ Before asking, "Any idea's?"

Kensei shot him a look over his shoulder then turned away and mumbled something under his breath and then disappeared without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

_They had each had their ideas on how to prevent Kenichi and his friends from being hurt, but none of them carried more weight than Sakaki's suggestion. An arranged marriage between one of the masters and someone with both strong military and political ties. _

_And after Akisame suggested Sakaki gather some files on a few people in Japan, Kensei got on the phone and called Niijima, Kenichi's schoolmate and co-leader of the Shimpaku Alliance, and after a lengthy discussion with the young man- Niijima mentioned a young lady from America who was going to their school that had both of what they sought. _

_Niijima stressed that though the girl was just nineteen and in her last year of school, she should be a candidate since her family expected her to marry once she graduated anyways._

_After that the masters spent another hour or so discussing what to do next and decided to take a few days to gather together the information needed and set up the right appointments with the right people- and then dispersed for the night to get some rest. _

_The next day they would begin to put their plan in motion and gather as many files on potential brides as they could before they decided on who would carry through with this particular task. _

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Several days later-

It had been decided that since Sakaki wasn't ready yet to settle down (and Appachai and Shigure weren't yet ready to be separated from each other) that Akisame, the third oldest master of Ryozanpaku, would be the one to go through with an arranged marriage to a young woman of his choosing. And after Sakaki and everyone else's help in gathering files on potential brides, the poor man was practically swimming in them.

And don't even mention how tedious a task it was to go through the lot of them.

There were plenty of young women who's ages ranged from their mid to late teens to early twenties and somewhere even in their thirties! All had wonderful educational backgrounds, some had lovely personalities but were a tad bit too sensitive personality wise to survive him so much as speaking pleasantly with them. Some had some training in the martial arts or were creative like him (something in common was always a nice ice breaker when meeting in person) he supposed as he placed those files aside. Many had many physical attributes that he found appealing or even exotic. But most of all was that there were many from very prominent families with political and military ties, some ran their own companies, while others were heiresses that would gain vast inheritances upon marrying.

And while Akisame was sure that marrying one of the heiresses would take some of the financial stress from the dojo and allow them to buy more of the things that they would likely need. He somehow doubted that the women would allow them to use the money for things like weapons (not that they all needed them) when they were simply too used to getting what they wanted no matter how frivolous. He wasn't so shallow a man that he would do such a thing to someone else.

No- he needed a woman who wouldn't mind living at Ryozanpaku and having the same amount of things that everyone else had. Someone who was humble and kind yet had the connections they would need if trouble reared it's ugly head. Someone who would look upon Kenichi, Miu and their friends and would treat them all like younger siblings and want to protect them with everything they had.

But at the same time he had to think about what the woman would want from an arranged marriage. Would she be practical about it? Or would she romanticize the whole ordeal?

This was uncharted territory for him so he had no idea what the woman he chose as his wife would be expecting of him. Safety? Sure, okay. He could handle that. After all most women married for reasons like, safety, security, love, affection exct... But what about other things? Did she expect him to fit the role of the modern male?

It wasn't that he minded if that was the case. After all, he may not be a rich man in a manner of speaking, but he had more than enough money hidden away to help provide for a wife and possibly a few children. In fact every week or so when his patients at the bone setter's clinic paid him for his services, he took more than a third of the money he was paid, and stored it away in his work room under the floor where he knew no one would find it.

And he'd been doing this for well over fifteen years.

Just a year or two after he arrived at Ryozanpaku. And since he never touched it- well he'd imagine that he had more than he could shake a stick at. And while that was all well and good, he still couldn't quite figure out what would be expected of him.

Which is what made the task of finding a bride this way so damned _frustrating_.

There was a soft knock at his work room door, startling the jujutsu master slightly as he turned his head slightly and called out an almost angry sounding, "Yes?" Not wanting to be disturbed any more than he needed to be. The door opened as he turned to face whoever was disturbing him, expecting it to be Miu coming to give him food or check and see if he was still alive or something since he hadn't come out since yesterday morning when he'd had all of these damnedable files dumped on him by Sakaki and Kensei who had both wisely run for it once he realized what they were.

However instead of Miu, Harou Niijima- Kenichi's alien friend peeked in and gave an awkward sort of finger wiggle in greeting causing Akisame to sigh as he got a sinking feeling in his gut. "Hey how's it going?" The teen asked almost cautiously. Perhaps sensing that Akisame was just a few minutes (or hours in this case) from going absolutely, completely and utterly mad.

"It's...progressing...slowly." Too slowly for Akisame's liking. Seriously how did everyone expect him to choose a bride from these profiles _before_ he decided to pull his hair out in frustration?

"Then I'll help." Niijima said as he stepped into the room and silently closed the door. Doing his best to hide the file on the American exchange student at his school while he was at it.

Akisame opened his mouth to tell Niijima that he had this handled but decided not to bother since the boy had obviously had come to him with an agenda of his own. And as much as that might distract Akisame from his current task and provide some much needed relief, he was curious to see what the boy would do. Besides, two heads were better than one and if anyone could help him at the moment, it was Harou Niijima.

"Alright," He said after a moment or so of thought. "How about I hand you the profiles and you go through them and set aside the ones that you think will fit my requirements."

"Sure." The teen said as he came over and sat down next to the man who handed him the first file as he asked,

"You know what I'm looking for right?"

"Yeah." Niijima said as he flipped open the file and pretended to let his eyes skim over the information in it while his mind went to the young woman that he'd brought with him to meet the master. She was waiting patiently outside with the others for the moment, which was good since he hadn't had a hance to sneak her file in with the rest just yet.

Akisame was an unusually sharp man. Sneaking her file in may be completely impossible at the moment. But he'd give it an hour then try to slip it in so that he at least appeared to be doing what he offered to do.

Besides, he was sure that Miu and the other masters could keep Hanna busy for the time being.


	3. Chapter 3

Hanna Nole sat on the porch of the big japanese style home that also served as a martial arts dojo; that she had been brought to by her schoolmate, Harou Niijima just a while ago and was trying to relax. Truly she was. However it was becoming more and more difficult for her to do so the more she thought about the reason Niijima had asked her to accompany him to the house.

An arranged marriage... _Oh dear god-_ Why her? Was she such an embarrassment to her family due to her past that they really felt they needed to foist her off on some poor unsuspecting man? She didn't understand...

Now don't get her wrong, she loved her family. And she would do anything for most of them. _Most_, being the operative word since there was a good portion of her family that would like nothing more than for her to drop dead. And those particular people rarely bothered to hide this fact from her. After all why hide the obvious from her?

Okay so her past was a little more colorful than she would have liked. But it wasn't her fault that she had been kidnapped at thirteen, hooked on drugs, gone through rehab. And then several months later been raped, gotten pregnant, miscarried and become a cutter who had almost killed herself before realizing that she wasn't so weak that she needed to continue self destructing.

It had taken her time. More than she would have liked. And she had hurt her mom and dad more than she should have ever hurt them in one lifetime.

She knew that there had been no excuse for her behavior...

But she had been trying her hardest to make up for all of that. But still...this- this situation she suddenly found herself in had her completely stumped. Really, how was she supposed to react to this? Did her parents expect her to be happy? Sure they only wanted what was best for her and for her to be happy but- What if she hated the guy she wound up with? Or worse, what if he wasn't a very likable person and tended to beat her or some shit?

Was she just supposed to smile and take it? The mere thought of a virtual stranger, someone that she would have to live with for the rest of her life putting his hands on her in such a way made her gut twist painfully, making it difficult to breathe.

She was so engrossed with her own thoughts that she didn't sense (nor see nor hear) the footsteps of her other classmate, Miu Furinji as she came walking around the nearest corner with a tray of food and paused in mid step when she noted Hanna sitting on her porch staring blankly ahead. _What the-_ Miu wondered as she quickly looked around wondering who had let the girl in.

Especially since she knew that Kenichi wasn't receiving visitors right now and Kensei and Akisame were both busy. Shigure had left with Sakaki to gather info on the movements of Yami via an old friend that he used to work with. And Apachai and her grandfather were both doing the same thing...just at the Shumpaku Alliance headquarters.

And they'd been gone for a while _soooo_... What was Hanna doing paying her home a visit at such a time? Don't get her wrong, Miu liked having company to talk too and though she didn't know the girl well due to the fact that she was about to graduate- she had however spoken with her a time or two and genuinely liked her. Much like Kenichi liked her because she had joined the gardening club at the beginning of the year last year. But that wasn't the only reason Kenichi and Miu liked the girl.

The real reason stemmed from when Kenichi had first started training at Ryozanpaku and was being hassled by every bully and thug in Ragnarok. It had only become public knowledge to them recently thanks to Niijima letting it slip- but he had noticed a time or two when Kenichi was about to get pounced on; Hanna had stepped in and beat the crap out of the ones after him. Shifting their attention temporarily from him to herself so that he had more time to train and become stronger.

Still... That didn't explain what she was doing here.

"Uh... H-Hanna?" Miu finally managed to say, drawing the girl's attention to her. "Um, I don't mean to disturb you or anything, but what are you doing here? Did you hear about what happened and come to visit Kenichi?" Miu asked knowing that with Niijima and the rest of the blabber mouths in the Shimpaku- that that was perhaps the most likely.

"Miu! I'm freaking out," Hanna said as Miu thought, _Well that's kind of obvious, _as she listened to the normally calm and easy going girl prattle on. "Niijima told me to come here and meet someone called Akisame because of the whole _my-parents-want-me-to-have-an-arranged-marriage_ thing! And I'm so completely freaking out that I'm on the verge of a total meltdown!" The girl said, her voice adopting the southern accent that was often gone from her voice unless she was well and truly upset.

"Huh?" Miu said stupidly as she inched forward a little bit and shifted her hold on the tray of food that she'd been taking to Kenichi so that she was holding it balanced on the tips of her fingers and settled her free hand on Hanna's shoulder as she asked in a puzzled tone, "You said Akisame right? As in Akisame Koetsuji?" Miu asked as Hanna blinked up at her.

Her wide unusual colored neon blue/mint green eyes staring at Miu almost pleadingly from under wisps of long silvery blond hair. _Wow_, Miu thought to herself as she straightened her spine a bit. The poor girl really was freaking out. "Tell you what, I'm going to go feed Kenichi and while I'm doing that you just sit tight here and when I get back in ten minutes we'll go see Akisame. Okay." Miu said hoping to put the girl more at ease, but based on her current reaction she wasn't sure meeting a potential husband candidate would calm her right now since her nerves were totally fried.

Still, Hanna surprised her by nodding her head and resuming her former seat on the porch with her knees drawn up to her chest.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Hn... Does anyone even read this?_**

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Akisame handed Niijima the very last file to look at out of the pile of potential wives and groaned when the teen scanned the pages then tossed the file aside and then flopped over onto his back for a moment before muttering almost despairingly, "We're doomed." Which very well may have been true from the teen's point of view...but he didn't give in so easily.

He sighed tiredly and rolled his shoulders. Maybe he should go get some fresh air, grab something to eat and then try hitting that _horrible_ (honest to god if he ever saw another file again after this he'd scream until his throat bled) pile of files again. Maybe the reason he hadn't found what he was looking for was because he was looking/asking for too much of the brides.

"Was that really the last of the marriage interview profiles?" Akisame asked tiredly as Niijima seemed to recall something and automatically bolted upright.

"Oh! I forgot," The teen said as he pulled his discarded backpack over to him and started going through it until he pulled out a file that Akisame had never seen before. "After talking to Mr. Ma the other day about finding one of you a prospective bride with connections to the government, police, FBI, Interpol, CIA and so on- I managed to find one person who fits what your looking for. A fellow student at my school..." He set the file down on the floor in between himself and the master who had suddenly grown strangely silent, indicating that he was listening intently and would continue to do so until Niijima was finished.

"She's an exchange student from the US who was sent here so that she could graduate from high school with little to no problems. Apparently a lot of her family is rich and even more of them are military, former military, police, CIA- well you get the picture. She's an heiress, the only daughter of a nice couple with impressive backgrounds in both business and being former military. Her father is an retired army general who now works with the president of the United States. He used to work with her mother for a time after being gravely wounded and being discharged, but after a little while decided to go into politics since it was something he excelled at. Her mother is a former model turned actress/singer her husband worked with her as her bodyguard up until she retired. She has two older brothers. Jamie, 28, and Auston, 26."

"One is CIA. And the other is former Delta Force and now works as a S.W.A.T team sniper. She has some relatives living here in Japan who are part of the police force, some work directly with the Japanese government on reigning in and dealing with terrorism," It was at this point that Akisame let out a low whistle. _Damn._ This girl Niijima had found had everything he was looking for and more. But like the old saying goes, If something sounds too good to be true... It usually is.

"Is there a catch?"

"Pardon?"

"A catch," Akisame repeated. "You seem to be pointing out the connection her family has and very little to nothing else. Tell me about the girl herself."

"Oh," Niijima said awkwardly, he had been hoping that the master would overlook that for now since he wasn't exactly sure what to say about Hanna.

"Does she have a rotten personality or something?" Akisame asked. Deciding right then and there that if she did he wouldn't give her the time of day.

"What? No! No, no, no, no! Nothing like that. She's actually a very sweet and kind person, it's just that..." What hell am I going to say? Niijima wondered to himself as he took a moment to think. He knew with holding information from a potential husband/wife during a marriage interview was wrong. But Hanna had been sent to Japan to get away from all of the people in her family who had tried to wrest control of her mother and father's jobs and leave them with nothing because they felt Hanna herself was an embarrassment.

They had started lies and gossip about what had happened to her when she was thirteen. Wanting to either ruin the girl completely or drive her into a corner with no other option for relief except her own demise.

And if that had happened then those bastards and bitches could have laughed and said, "I told you so." And it would have only made everything they had said about her more believable than it already was.

And that was part of the reason her parents wanted to marry as soon as she graduated. They wanted someone who knew about her past, and would treat her with kindness and compassion. But most of all they wanted someone who would be patient with her and protect her from further harm.

Finally, Niijima sighed and looked the master in the eye and said, "Hanna's home situation is rather difficult. Many people in her family love and adore her and her parents who are the heads of their family- However others... Others have tried various methods at their disposal in an effort to destroy her and her parents and siblings. Kidnapping, drugs, physical and mental abuse and torture- Even I don't know all of the details about everything. Hanna isn't too much of a talker. She has to feel very comfortable around someone before she'll even consider talking."

"But the two of you do have many things in common. Art, music, literature- which should be great as an ice breaker. I know for sure that she's written and published several books of poetry as well as a few novels. She does it as a part time job to pay her way through school as well as her current living expenses and such without having to rely on her parents too much. It's admirable really. Personality wise she's a lot like Kenichi. She comes across as somewhat timid, but push the wrong button and she'll knock you out."

"No formal training at hand to hand, karate or anything else. Although if she does have any prior knowledge it was given to her by her father and brothers." Akisame made a thoughtful humming sound before asking,

"Is there anything else?"

"Like what?"

"Age. Physical appearance."

"Ah! Hold on." Niijima said as he held up one finger to silence him and rooted around the inside of his backpack again until he managed to produce a polaroid photo. And held it out to Akisame who took it and did a brief glance at the photo and felt as if he had been punched in the stomach by Appachai. His breath left his lungs in a loud 'whoosh' and his heart did a curious flip flop in his chest.

_Oh my-_ Akisame thought as he glanced over the face of the young woman in the photo. She was a lovely little thing. He surmised as he calculated her height, weight, width of her hips, and bust measurements before moving on to other things. Like the peculiar coloring of her eyes, a strange mixture between neon blue and mint green. To the color and length of her hair, a beautiful shade of silvery blond that looked more silver than the ash blond that highlighted her mid back length hair.

She had milky white skin, smooth, and flawless, her lips were a pale, pale pink- And she was wearing a black long sleeved shirt, a silver necklace, and faded skinny jeans with black leather boots with more than a few buckles on them.

Yes she was indeed a lovely little thing. And would suit him quite well if all that Niijima had said was true. "Age?" He asked again.

"Nineteen. Though by the time she graduates she'll be twenty." Akisame frowned. Normally speaking kids graduated from high school at eighteen. So why had this girl two years behind everyone else? He was about to ask Niijima when the teen said,

"She left school temporarily for work and had to redo all of the work last year after moving here and settling in. So she got a little behind. But she managed to catch up and this is her last year."

"I see." Akisame said as he continued to stare at the photo for a moment before stating that he needed a little bit to think things over and thanked Niijima for his time and then promptly got up and seized the teen by the back of his shirt and tossed him out of his work room and slammed the door.


	5. Chapter 5

***Sigh***

**reviewer 00- I get really tired of repeating myself when it comes to my work. First off, no, I won't stop the story and redo it to fit your specifications just because your panties got in a bunch. **

**Again- this is fiction. As in it isn't _real_. **

**And aside from that- the world isn't all rainbows and butterflies. There's no point in her hiding what happened to her since she and her family have lived in the public eye for so long. **

**Do you really think she'd be able to hide somewhere where there aren't any damned reporters or gossips? People who wouldn't force her to confront her fears regardless of the damage they would be inflicting? **

**Besides- I never said that she was completely over all of it. Merely that she put the drugs, her miscarriage, and the cutting behind her. I never at any point in the story or any other place mentioned say/nor mean to imply that those things are _okay_. And she is freaking out about being forced into an arranged marriage for some of the reasons mentioned in chapter 3.**

**Also, and last but not least of all, if you had bothered to really pay attention to what I wrote in chapter 3- you would have noticed that while I did mention those things... I also mentioned how it takes time. How she'd hurt her family more than she should have in one life time. And how she had had to realize for herself when she almost died- that she wasn't so weak that she needed to continue cutting.**

**So...dark past or not. The story stays as is.**

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The night air was starting to become cooler and cooler now that summer was ending. Akisame mused as he stepped out of the kitchen after just eating for the first time in three days or so, and was about to go for a walk around the dojo when he heard the sound of Miu's voice and curious to see who she was speaking too- decided to go find her and see.

He made it to the far corner of the house where Miu's voice was the strongest and peered around the edge of the house and froze as he saw Miu sitting with another person- a young lady, he assumed from the size, and slenderness of the person's silhouette in the half darkness of the porch and the living room light spilling outside through a hole in the wall.

"Sorry for the wait but Kenichi was having trouble moving without passing out," Miu apologized as she poured some milk tea into one of the cups she had hidden between herself and the other person and handed it to them before asking, "So have you calmed down enough to talk?"

"I'm not sure..." Came the voice of the other person as Miu poured herself a cup of tea and added three sugar cubes to it before offering some to the other person who looked down at them and also took three and dropped them into her tea. "I still feel like my heart is about to jump out of my chest."

"Well that's to be expected, isn't it? After all you're parents are pushing for you to get married and have even gone so far as to try and arrange a marriage for you with a total stranger. If it were me, I'd have disowned them or run away by now." Miu said as she took a small sip of her tea then put her cup back down.

"There's no point in running away or trying to disown them. They'd only send one or both of my brothers and an entire army after me."

"That's...a bit much." Miu said as she regarded her schoolmate wide eyed. She didn't know much about Hanna's parents or her brothers for that matter but she was fairly certain that they wouldn't send an army out to drag her home if she didn't comply with her parent's demands. Besides from where she was sitting Hanna's parents were being sort of unreasonable. Or not. She wasn't entirely sure, really.

All she knew was that Hanna was scared and worried, and she probably had every right to be. After all if her grandpa tried marrying her off against her will to a total stranger that she had never met before- there would be more than a few fireworks. In fact the two of them would be butting heads like rams!

'You'll do what I say!'

'No! I won't marry someone I don't care about!'

'But it's in you're best interest!'

_It had better never happen- _She'd kill the old geezer if he ever pulled such a stunt and then tried to con her into thinking it was for her best interest. Hell by the time she was done with him, he'd be homeless! And if any of the other masters tried to take pity on him and let him re-enter the grounds of Ryozanpaku- they'd quickly find themselves homeless as well.

After all, she had set standards for herself romantically. And just like any other girl, she wanted to find 'the one' on her own terms. Without being pushed or shoved or guided by outside sources. However she knew that not everyone had such a luxury, and apparently Hanna was one of them.

"Tell me, why exactly are you're parents pushing for you to marry so soon? Surely you have more than enough time to-"

"It's complicated."

"Complicated how?"

"I-It's got to do with-" The other started to say when she paused and then simply stated, " You know what, I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Then how am I supposed to help you?" Miu asked as she tilted her head slightly while shifting her body so that she could bring her knees up against her chest as she continued to stare at her friend.

"I dunno. I just don't know what to do. I can't get myself disowned or simply walk away from the family. They would wonder what they had done wrong this time- and I just can't be that cruel. And on top of that they would look for me. They would use every resource they have just to find me and get some answers. Whether I wanna give them or not. So running has never been an option. But I'm not all that sure I can go through with an arranged marriage either..."

"Why not? You're parents are just trying to help, right?"

"In their own twisted way, sure. But all their managing to do at the moment is remind me of-" The other stopped speaking and Akisame found himself flattening his back against the side of the house and straining his ears to hear what the other young lady had to say when he heard her almost whisper pitifully, "Of how _defective_ I am."

_Interesting, _Akisame thought to himself as Miu said, "Huh? Defective. What do you mean defective?"

To which the other girl replied softly, "Ah, I sometimes forget that I'm in japan and you know nothing of what's happened to me in the past six years."

"Well then why don't you tell me what happened?" Miu prodded a bit as Niijima came walking up and interrupted them.

"Hi, Miu," He said startling the blond a bit as she smiled and nodded her head in greeting as he reached down and helped the other girl to her feet and said, "I talked to Akisame-san. I'm not sure if he's interested or not but he'll let you know after a few days."

"Oh. Oh, I see. Then I guess we should leave."

"Wait! You guys don't have to-" Miu started to object when Niijima waved her off and glanced pointedly at Hanna. Indicating that she shouldn't be there any longer. She was probably feeling more than a little drained from the whole fiasco anyways so getting her home where she could curl up and have a nice cry and maybe grab a few hours of sleep would be for the best.

"Sorry to cut out on you like this Miu, but we do have school tomorrow. And Hanna looks like she could sleep for about a month." Niijima said in a half teasing tone hoping to get a rise out of the exhausted girl, and felt more than a little disappointed when she said nothing except,

"Thank you for the tea, Miu." Before the two of them gave little waves and walked off.


	6. Chapter 6

So_ that_ young lady was Hanna Nole. She was much lovelier in person than I could have imagined, Akisame thought as he watched the girl and Niijima walk through the front gate and disappear completely before bothering to step around the corner where Miu sat gathering up the tea cups and sighing, and asked in a deceptively curious tone. "Why Miu, did we have company?" As he walked over to the blond.

Miu's head snapped back on her neck at the sound of his voice and she looked up at him with a slightly startled expression on her face before she flushed and started stammering, "W-Well y-you see there was a c-classmate-er a girl f-from school and-" He held up a hand, indicating silence and dropped down to a squat across from her and said simply,

"Tell me everything you know about her."

Miu blinked at him and opened her mouth and started talking...

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Three days later-

Akisame stood in front of the fogged over bathroom mirror looking himself over. After five grueling days of no sleep and little rest, he'd finally come to a decision. Hanna Nole was the most suitable bride for him. And it wasn't just because of the connections that he wanted to marry her. There were the other things he'd wanted as well.

But then after seeing her the other night, sitting on the dojo porch speaking to Miu- something else had struck him. The girl wasn't just the perfect bride for him. No, the very presence of her had awakened something deep down inside of him. A deeply buried longing that he had ignored for far too long. And after the other night he had been unable to do anything to push it aside.

Hanna Nole, was a damaged young lady. Probably for good reason if any of what Niijima had told him had any grain of truth to it.

And as her future husband and the father of her future children- he could do nothing less than protect her from any and all of the demons that plagued her. Which was why he was taking the initiative. Today he would go and meet the girl face to face after school and ask her to spend some time with him for an impromptu date of sorts. So he could get a good feel for her personality and calculate whether they would do half as well together as he believed.

Using his hand he wiped some of the fog away from the glass and studied his features for a moment with his pale eyes and used the tip of his tongue to lick his lips.

Due to the serious nature of today's plans, Akisame had showered, trimmed his dark wild brown hair so that the front was longer than the back and combed it all so that his hair was back away from his face with the exception of a few dark strands that fell here and there. He had shaved his mustache, something he'd taken some pride in for many, many years and after several heartbeats sighed.

He looked like a hitman, but well, his mustache would grow back...inevitably. And hopefully by then he'd be a happily married man. Until then though, he supposed he'd just have to put up with it.

Turning away from the mirror, he reached out and grabbed the two sets of clothes he'd set aside for today and carefully weighed his options. Should he wear the casual clothes? The jeans and pale blue and green plaid shirt. Or should he wear the formal outfit? The black suit pants and jacket over a white shirt with a pale greyish blue tie.

He hadn't worn either outfit in forever. And he really meant _forever_.

After several minutes of careful deliberation, he set the dress suit down. Leaning more towards the jeans and plaid shirt since they would be a bit more comfortable and (god forbid) if the worst should happen and they got mugged or something then he would be able to move more freely to defend himself and Hanna.

So casual wear it was.

He dressed slowly, carefully, wanting to take his time so that he could alter his appearance slightly if he started to look a little too intimidating. And in the end, he wound up leaving a few shirt buttons undone and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows to give him a more relaxed appearance before grabbing up his wallet and heading for the bathroom door so that he could leave.

If he kept wasting time in here then school would end before he had the chance to do anything.


	7. Chapter 7

The last bell rang at exactly two forty five pm.

And once it did the wild rush to escape the school building was on. Akisame stood at the front gate, just off to the side and out of the way with his hands thrust inside of his pants pockets. Waiting. Watching. His pale eyes scanning the sea of young faces for Hanna. He was not willing to let her escape him by trying to hide herself among the crowd, though he knew that made no real sense since she didn't know that he had come to the school to more or less whisk her away to some place more private.

The first familiar faces he saw were Kenichi and Miu. Both of whom just seemed to meander over to him, pause for a moment or two to stare, then exchange a look before seeming to shake themselves out of whatever funk they had come under and then ran off before he could so much as say a word to them for their rudeness.

Pressing his tongue against the inside of his cheek, he glared at the two's backs. Oh the horrible training regimen he had planned for the two to teach them some manners. Honestly! Was that how today's youth was supposed to conduct themselves? He wondered as he absently let his mind wander a bit as a flock of more- _Good god_, these kids were more like flocks of birds than actual humans.

Seriously. Not a single individual among them dared to walk- His train of thought halted then went totally blank for a moment as he caught sight of Hanna walking out of the school yard with several books in her arms.

My, my, my... He had never understood why older men found young girls in sailor suits appealing; but he understood the _why_ of it now. Hanna was more than lovely in her little sailor suit. Especially when he could see how long and slender her legs were. She was- was...what was the word? Ravishable? Sexy? _Oh dear god, kill me now._ Akisame thought, embarrassed over his somewhat lack of control as he flushed slightly and averted his eyes when he noticed her start to look in his direction. Not wanting her to realize that he had been staring at her so intently.

The last thing he wanted to do was think more about how adorable she looked in her school uniform especially now that the time had come to ask her out. He might lose his nerve or something since he'd never really actually asked a girl/woman out before. He just usually let the females come to him and make a move, but since he didn't think that plan of action would work here, especially with someone so many years younger than himself- Perhaps it was for the best that he make the first move being as he had more experience.

He took several deep, calming breaths and then started walking towards her. Noting as he got closer to her that she seemed somewhat distracted by something. Reaching out he tapped her on her shoulder causing her to turn her head and look at him through wide, peculiarly mixed colored eyes that were so breathtakingly clear. "Hanna? Hanna Nole?"

She blinked at him as she turned her body completely around to face him as her arms tightened a fraction around the books in her grasp. "Y-Yes." She replied nervously as she looked around to see if there were any kids left who might help her if he turned out to be a creep. Which Akisame found sensible. A little offending but sensible nevertheless.

He smiled at her, "My name is Akisame Koetsuji. I believe you came to my home the other night and spoke to your schoolmate Miu about a possible arranged marriage between us." She blinked at him again as her jaw slowly dropped open in shock.

"_O-Oh!_ Nice to meet you, sir." Hanna said politely with a quick bow the moment she finally regained her ability to speak. He chuckled at her formal greeting, thinking it was rather cute as she went on to say, "I didn't expect to hear anything from you so soon. Do you mind if I ask what you're purpose is?"

"I think you already more or less know my purpose. But in case you really need me to clear things up for you then the truth of the matter is I've gone over your profile several times and wished to meet you in person, and spend some time with you before making a final decision about a possible future with you." Akisame said. Knowing full well that he was half lying to her and his decision was already made. He merely felt it was best to go with the half lie for the moment since it might be the only way he could get her to consent to spending time alone with him.

After all, she couldn't exactly object to his planned 'date' if he said it was to help him better make up his mind. Hanna stared at him for a moment, seeming to go over what he had just said in her mind before nodding her head in acceptance. "I see. Spending a little time together would be for the best. It would help us get a better grasp of the other person's personality, likes, dislikes exct..."

"You're more sensible than I thought you'd be." He said with a grin, liking how easily she was falling in line with his plans before she nodded her head and said.

"Well. I try to be. What did you have in mind for spending time together?"

"Well, since I thought I would treat this as a date of sorts... I thought I'd take you out to a nice dinner and perhaps talk for a bit before moving on to do whatever you want." He said as he mentally went through the list of nice restaurants in the general area while Hanna looked down at herself and flushed.

Going on a date and all was fine. But he was dressed in a really nice outfit and she was...more than a little underdressed for spending time with him at the moment. After all school uniforms weren't ideal date dress unless you were into selling your body or dating someone your own age or something.

Reaching out she grasped his shirt sleeve and gently tugged on it so that he would look at her and flushed a little brighter when his pale eyes locked on her face as she said nervously, "Um... A date would be fine, but I need to change my clothes-"

"Oh. Of course, I didn't think-" He said politely as he reached out and laid his hand on top of her head and ruffled her pale blond hair before saying. "How about we work in a shopping trip before dinner? I'll buy you a new outfit, we'll carry your books and uniform in a bag and we'll go eat. Sound okay?"

Hanna never really had a chance to say yes or no to his offer. Or to even tell him that she didn't live very far, a mere side trip would be all that was needed to fix her clothing problem- before he pretty much grasped her hand and started dragging her down the street in the opposite direction of where she lived.


	8. Chapter 8

How do I get myself into these situations? Hanna wondered as she meandered among the clothes racks, taking note of the various styles of clothing before sighing and turning her head to glance over her shoulder at her 'date' and found him studying her from a few feet away as she browsed. Squeaking slightly at being caught catching him watching her- he gave her a grin as she flushed and quickly turned her head back around and went back to her task.

Once she was done looking at the rack in front of her, she took a moment to gather up the courage to ask him, "What kind of place were you planning to go too for dinner?" Hoping that his reply would help her pick something that wouldn't embarrass either of them.

He made a humming sound then said very softly next to her ear, his breath tickling her neck as he did so. "There's a nice place just a few blocks from here that has just about every food under the sun. I was planning to take you there..." Then added on as an afterthought. "If you're interested, that is."

"O-Oh. I didn't know that there were any places like that around here." She said as she thought about the kind of clientele that a place like that would likely bring in. And realized that it was something like a few of the places she'd been in before with her parents and siblings. Such places had a dress code and the foods (while usually very good) were also very expensive.

She started to open her mouth to tell him that he didn't have to take her to a place like that- which was true since they had just met. He was literally under no obligation whatsoever to take her to a place like that and spend his hard earned money. Frankly she would rather get a burger from somewhere and sit in the park and alternate between talking with him, feeding the birds, and eating. However he seemed to already know what she was going to say before she even said it and cut her off.

"You don't have to worry about the cost or anything else. I'm friends with the owner of the place. I can go whenever I want regardless of how much money I have or don't have and they will never turn me away."

"You're not blackmailing him are you?" The question was meant to sound like a joke, however it slipped out so serious and rude sounding even to her ears that she was so horrified that she had even bothered with the question. And slapped her hands to her mouth and could do nothing but hope that he hadn't heard her.

He laughed, the sound genuinely humorous and tried to file this moment away in the back of his mind under humor as he replied with a smile. "Aw, how'd you figure it out," However when he saw Hanna's eyes widen almost to the extent where they ate up every inch of her face, he sobered up slightly upon realizing that she _believed_ him and his terrible joke. "I was kidding Hanna." He said after a moment or so, watching her expression as she relaxed a bit and let her hands fall away from her face.

Apparently relieved to know that he hadn't- and wasn't- blackmailing anyone.

"Oh," She said with a small frown before stuttering out an apology for thinking the worst. Akisame merely nodded, understanding that she didn't know him or his somewhat dark and twisted sense of humor and thus wasn't offended because she couldn't tell when he was joking or not. The two of them stood there for a moment or so awkwardly sizing each other up when he broke away first and asked her favorite color.

In truth he expected her to be one of those girly girls like Miu who obsessively wore their favorite color everyday. And so was pleasantly surprised to learn that her favorite color was a toss up between black, red, silver, several shades of green and blue, teal and then lastly white. Walking over to a display of shirts and dresses that were several of her favorite colors, he picked out two dresses and two shirts and turned around to hand them to her and paused when he found her holding a pair of jeans and a thin silver chain link belt with a little heart at one end.

Curious to see what she was planning, he handed her the clothing he held then left her to go and try the clothes on while he browsed for hair accessories, jewelry and the like.

He may be older than she was, but that didn't mean that he hadn't dressed a few gals up in his time.

He wasn't a monk after all. He had had girlfriends before.

A long, long, long ago- Before he had started to more or less live as a hermit. He waited a grand total of ten minutes before Hanna stepped out of the dressing room wearing a teal, and black colored long sleeved shirt with little silver and aqua flowers and butterflies on it here and there, along with the jeans and belt.

Pausing what he was doing, his attention suddenly fully riveted on the girl herself rather than the accessories in front of him. Good god she looked beautiful. So much so that he wasn't entirely sure if he'd be able to keep his hands to himself if he was alone with her for more than a few hours. True he didn't want to push her or put her in a situation that made her uncomfortable...but even he had _limits_ to his control.

"I-I think I like these the best." She said as she walked up to him, a soft blush coloring her skin as he smiled.

"Okay." Now all he needed to do was find her some nice shoes and they could leave.


	9. Chapter 9

Once Akisame had Hanna's new outfit bought and slipped her books in the bag holding her school uniform her had to stand back for a moment and admire how she looked in her new clothes. He'd always been a sucker for things that were pretty- not just objects, but people too in his own weird way. And it wasn't just the outside package but the deeper things as well. He just seemed to be able to appreciate them more than other people.

And damn him if Hanna didn't fit his idea of the ideal woman to a T. Right now, in her new clothes- a blush coloring her pretty face- she just seemed to _glow_.

Reaching out absently, he took the bag with her books and uniform in it, in his hand and reached over and grasped one of her small hands in his own and felt his heart accelerate until he could almost swear that he could hear the rush of blood throughout his body and smiled at her when she looked up at him wide eyed for a moment. Apparently the action of taking her hand had startled her a bit because she hadn't been expecting such a move from him.

"_Soooo_-" She started out somewhat awkwardly as they left the store and started walking. "Tell me something about yourself?"

"Hn. I suppose that is only fair," He said when it occurred to him that he'd been the only one really asking questions so far. "I'm a doctor. I have my own private practice where I take care of some of the locals. I also teach martial arts, and do things like make stone statues and wood carvings. I also paint, and write poems and such from time to time. But mostly I'm just a doctor and martial arts teacher."

Hanna gave him a funny look for a second then shrugged her slender shoulders and looked away feeling that his reply was somewhat rather impersonal (which was his choice really) before asking. "Uh, the place you were wanting to go- tell me about it. You said earlier that it was nice or something."

"Yes. Something like that," Akisame said thoughtfully before asking her. "Does that bother you?"

She shook her head no rather than answer him aloud as he continued to lead the way to the restaurant. It was only another two blocks or so. And he was rather enjoying the small talk between them while they made their way there. "No. It doesn't bother me. I'm actually used to places like that because of some of the charity functions and some of the political functions my family has dragged me too." Hanna said, careful to keep her tone light so that he couldn't tell how much she would rather not go to the place he was taking her. She didn't want to waste his time by ruining their date before it even really started.

They stopped at a street corner to wait for the red light so that they could cross the street when he sighed and released her hand so that he could grasp a stray strand of her pale hair and tuck it behind her ear as he said, "You're a very sweet and considerate young lady, Hanna." To be perfectly honest he had expected her to say something about where they were going to eat. Perhaps give him an idea of where she would rather go instead.

But no- instead of doing as he had thought she would, she was remaining quiet. Trying to take his feelings and efforts into consideration.

She was such a sweet natured girl that he almost wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close to him. But instead he just let his arm drop, telling himself that it was far too soon to do such things to Hanna when she still didn't know him very well. Besides there would be plenty of time for such things when he won her over. And hopefully by the end of his date today, he would have a fiancé to celebrate about.

He could even pick up some stuff for dinner at the dojo later. Something like tempura, sushi, some things for miso soup and salad and maybe a few other things. He could even grab some sake to share with Kensei and Sakaki. Wouldn't that be nice?

He'd bet that Miu and the others would have a blast. Why they could even see about moving Kenichi so that he could join in the festivities.

Taking possession of her hand again once he noticed the red light, he led her across the street and after several minutes of strained/awkward silence between them before coming to a stop again in front of a large brick building with stone dragon statues sitting on a small wall on either side of the door with peonies planted up against the wall.

It was a beautiful place, Hanna noted. Definitely a place that she wouldn't mind trying out at least once as Akisame pulled her a little closer and placed her hand on his arm and walked up to the door.


	10. Chapter 10

The inside of the restaurant was an amazing blend of western and eastern culture. Everything from the menu's, the booths, tables, VIP rooms, and even the paintings and plants and color scheme was dazzling to Hanna as she stood in the doorway looking the place over when a waiter noticed Akisame and ran over immediately to greet him.

"Akisame-san! We didn't expect you today." The man said in an unexpectedly happy tone as he and her date shook hands like they were old friends.

Akisame smiled at him. "I know you weren't expecting me but do you think you can work me in. I'm here with a date." Akisame leaned in and explained in a low tone before motioning to Hanna, who was still so dazzled by the place that she seemed to have become rooted in place several feet from him. The man peeked around him to get a better look at her and quickly clapped his hands together.

"You never mentioned any desire to date the last time you were here." The man said in a chastising tone as he gave Akisame a look.

Akisame looked away for a moment knowing that his friend was right, but to be honest the last time he'd been here had been over three months ago. He'd been trying to unwind while doing a little excess work from the clinic. Of course, he had also had a lot more free time on his hands- what with Yomi not being anywhere in the picture then.

"Some things have happened, my friend. Some things that could get many a good people injured or worse. And as such I've suddenly found myself in the precarious position of needing a wife with connections to the military, government...and so on. The young lady over there may very well wind up being my wife. If so then I want to make the best of the situation and do as right by her as possible. She deserves that much." Akisame said somberly as his friend listened, his expression suddenly becoming concerned.

"Will you be okay?" The man asked and sighed when Akisame didn't answer then asked him where he would like to sit for his date. A table? A booth? Or the VIP room Akisame usually used when he came by?

Akisame chose the VIP room for several reasons. 1) Privacy. 2) He and Hanna could discuss things that they wouldn't be able to discuss out in the open. 3) It was a closed in and rather nice area that was easy to defend. Just in case they were attacked or something. This way he'd be better able to protect Hanna and himself.

Once the choice was made, then man nodded his head grabbed two menu's and waved Hanna over and smiled at her before turning to lead the way. The VIP dining rooms were located in a secluded area of the restaurant where each room was built to look like lounges in really posh dance clubs. A person could do anything from conduct business deals or drug deals, to have sex while in such private rooms. Which is why many people liked the VIP area so much.

However since the rooms were located in a restaurant some things (like drugs and having sex) were prohibited for sanitation reasons. And anyone who broke the rules were barred from the restaurant. Akisame, of course knew this. Which was why it was one of the ideal places to bring Hanna for their first date. And it of course helped that the room he would be given was the one that the owner, his friend- had redecorated to fit Akisame's tastes.

The room itself had been wonderful enough before the changes, but now that it had been redecorated- well, Akisame was rather pleased with how it had turned out. His friend stopped in front of his VIP room and handed him the menu's and told him to ring for him once they were ready to place their orders then quickly asked if they wanted anything to drink while they settled in.

Akisame looked at Hanna, deciding to follow her lead and cocked his head a bit when she asked if his friend served orange juice. He had expected her to ask for tea or perhaps even soda. But orange juice... What in the world was behind that? He wondered as his friend nodded and scampered off as Akisame opened the door to the room and stood back so that Hanna could enter before him and asked, "Orange juice?"

Hanna turned her head to give him a little glare and asked in a defensive tone, "What? What about it?"

He shrugged and stepped into the room behind her and closed the door a bit without closing it completely. His way of being chivalrous, he supposed as he replied. "Nothing. It's just a weird thing to ask for unless it's breakfast time."

"So I have a paranoid fear of developing scurvy. So sue me." She said as she paused just a few steps away to look around the room.

The room itself was done in traditional Japanese style, complete with screens inlayed with mother of pearl in the shape of sakura blossoms and peonies, a small indoor waterfall and pond with some lotus flowers and koi- and across the room from those were a window, a small table with a pile of cushions, and up against the very back of the room was a bar with several different types of sake.

Akisame laughed at her answer, not believing her in the least and watched her make her way over to the pond and stick her fingers in the cool water and play with it a bit. Teasing the fish for a moment before turning to him and rubbing the nape of her neck with one hand as she asked, "Okay, so we're here. What now?"

"You've not gone on many dates before have you?" Akisame said, his comment was meant to be teasing. But actually came out a little less than teasing. Hurtful is more like it. Perhaps even a tad bit condescending.

Of course he didn't really realize this until he caught the brief flash of pain in her expression before she carefully masked it. "Yeah... You got me there. I don't really like going around with guys much."

Akisame, quickly realizing his mistake- backtracked. "Oh. I suppose it was rather insensitive of me to say that in such a way. Especially since Niijima hinted that some things have happened in your past to make you a bit wary of such endeavors."

Hanna didn't acknowledge him for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and pretending indifference. "S'okay. It's not like you meant too."

Akisame felt a peculiar twinge of pain in his chest as he stared at her for a moment before sighing and saying, "Even if you don't believe me right now, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings. Now please, lets sit down and talk a bit more."


End file.
